


Snow Has Never Seemed So Sweet

by through-the-stars-to-the-pavement (delicate_mageflower)



Series: Fire and Sword [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: ADHD Sokka, Although Zuko just uses this as an excuse to be a self-sacrificing idiot, Autistic Zuko, Chronic Pain, Disabled Sokka, Disabled Zuko, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I promise this is mostly soft though, Idiots in Love, M/M, Modes of Transportation as Trauma Olympics, Otterpenguins, Post-Hundred Year War - Freeform, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sokka has a heart as strong as a lion-turtle and twice as big, Sokka's trauma needs comforting too, Southern Water Tribe, Stimming, Zukka Week 2021, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, dadkoda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 07:26:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30085542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delicate_mageflower/pseuds/through-the-stars-to-the-pavement
Summary: Sokka takes Zuko home.[Zukka Week 2021, Day 4:Southern Water Tribe///Secretly Dating]
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Fire and Sword [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2209962
Comments: 18
Kudos: 95





	Snow Has Never Seemed So Sweet

The first time Sokka brings Zuko to the South Pole after they’d officially started dating is…nerve racking, to say the least.

But Sokka’s excitement, the look in his eyes every time they discuss it, the most beautiful, perfect smile in the world…

Zuko is an anxious wreck but at the same time, _he can’t fucking wait._

Sokka has been rambling for weeks about sea prunes and otterpenguins and it’s so sweet, Zuko feels like his heart is going to burst apart at his boyfriend’s (boyfriend’s!) every word.

Zuko is only a little bit freaking out about being reintroduced to Hakoda as Sokka’s significant other (his brain supplies “future son-in-law” but…oh no, _calm down,_ it is far too early to go anywhere near that thought).

He knows Hakoda fairly well now, and has been all but officially adopted by him already, but it’s hard not to fear this will change things.

They sail to the Southern Water Tribe. Sokka had asked Zuko _repeatedly_ if he was sure he was okay with it, and Zuko had just as frequently lied and told him yes, but the only other option is air travel and there is no way Zuko would allow Sokka to put himself through that because he didn’t want Zuko to be uncomfortable.

Yes, Zuko does not react well to travelling by sea—he gets antsy, shuts down, paces and stims beyond his usual control. It reminds him so much of his exile, of all the things he’d done when he was trying so hard to gain Ozai’s love, of how he treated his uncle as well as Team Avatar, of his trauma, of that agni kai, of the brutal healing process which pushes his longterm health problems from it over the edge, of all of his past mistakes. It’s too easy to get lost in all of that when on the open water, to panic and dissociate and become overwhelmed by flashbacks. It is, in all honesty, absolute misery.

But they are not flying. They’re not. In the air, Sokka can’t breathe, his chronic pain flares from stress and from his flashbacks making them feel fresh all over again, he feels sick and exhausted, he paces and fidgets to the point it also physically hurts him, he violently shakes, he tends to gravitate too far to the edge, he screams in terror for Toph and Suki.

So Zuko will not do that to him. He won’t.

Not when he’s so happy to be traveling to start with. Zuko can be a mess. Sokka will be given better, no matter how many times Zuko has to lie through his teeth for Sokka to accept it.

***

“You’re clearly not okay with this.”

Sokka finds Zuko below deck, trying his damnedest to meditate with a row of candles but failing entirely and instead finding himself rhythmically rubbing a pillow with twitchy hands and quietly quacking to himself.

But it _will_ be okay, they're getting close to their destination, and no matter what it still stands that it will not take Zuko as long to emotionally recover from this journey as it would for Sokka if they’d flown. They both struggle in their day to day lives either way, but Sokka could be trapped in a greater post-traumatic spiral for _weeks,_ whereas Zuko will be back to “normal” a few days after they return to the Fire Nation.

What transportation they take together is, therefore, non-negotionable.

And Zuko has a few self-soothing exercises he can employ. He doesn’t particularly want anyone else ever to catch him in the act, his childish desire for soft textures or his mimicking the sounds of the turtleducks which calm him so. He can hide and try to pretend he’s not trapped in reliving so many nightmares. That’s much harder to do on an airship or a balloon.

“Can I join you?” Sokka isn’t arguing with him about it right now and that’s good because he still could snap on a hair trigger in these surroundings and he does not want to do that to Sokka.

He loves Sokka. He loves him _so much,_ the very thought of ever hurting him again fills his with dread and fear and sadness and preemptive guilt.

He quacks at himself a few more times, now that Sokka’s already caught him what does it matter, and he stops moving his hands and starts holding the pillow in a white-knuckled grip.

He also nods. He does want Sokka with him. He _needs him_ to come closer.

Sokka sits down, places a hand over Zuko’s.

“How can I help?”

Zuko looks up. Fuck, Sokka is so sweet and sincere and all good things in this difficult world.

“You are.” And he means it. He really does.

But it’s complicated, and Sokka understands that. It’s the ship, but it’s also the nerves about Sokka’s family. Kanna has become kinder to him over the years of their friendship, but she’s never fully let her guard down. Not that Zuko can blame her. He doesn’t fault her at all. But it’s another cause for worry.

Sokka leans in, takes Zuko into his arms. He promises everything will be alright. Zuko wants nothing more than to believe him.

***

Sokka and Hakoda nearly topple each other over, both of them running and launching into a hug at full force.

And then Hakoda hugs Zuko, too. He allows himself to fall into it, to accept and enjoy it, but he has yet to truly get used to it.

“It’s good to see you, son,” Hakoda says, and maybe one day Zuko _won’t_ start to cry whenever he calls him that. Today, however, is not that day.

He can’t even be embarrassed about it anymore, and Hakoda always tells him not to be anyway. He wants him to feel at home here, wants Zuko to know he’s safe and that his emotions are valid and he will never, ever be punished for showing them when he is with them.

Hakoda pats Zuko on the back as he wipes at his eyes, and now it’s time for _the announcement._

***

To say Hakoda is happy for them upon receiving the news would be an understatement.

He practically jumps for joy, absolutely thrilled they’ve found each other in this way, insists they’re perfect for one another. Even Sokka is a bit surprised by the extent of his father’s jovial reaction.

And then, he tells Zuko what comes next.

Sokka is concerned for a moment he’s going to try to take him ice dodging, but that’s not for right now.

(Would Sokka be full of shit if he claimed the thought of Zuko with a Water Tribe mark on his forehead following his participation in such an important rite of passage didn’t make his heart flutter? Yes, most definitely. But surely it’s a little soon for that.)

Hakoda does want Zuko to experience more of an unwritten Southern rite, though.

He wants to take Zuko penguin sledding.

***

They don’t go right away. Hakoda gives them some time and space to themselves first, to walk around and take in the scenery, and for Zuko to better familiarize himself with the otterpenguins before attempting to ride one.

Sokka is in his element here. Zuko already feels strangely at home among the ice and snow, himself.

“Hey…thank you, for, you know, everything,” Sokka says quietly. “I really do appreciate you caring so much about how we got here, but please don’t think we _always_ have to do it this way, okay? Maybe we could switch off?”

And a part of Zuko loves that idea, but only because it means they’ll be coming here often enough for this to be worth planning.

“Yeah, we could…we could do that.”

“Babe, we don’t need Toph here to know you’re lying to me right now.”

“I’m sorry, Sokka, I don’t mean to lie. I just…I never want to see you suffer if I can stop it.”

“I know, baby, I know. But did you consider I don’t want _you_ needlessly suffering, either?”

Zuko, unsurprisingly, doesn’t know what to say to that. After all this time he can still be so taken aback by being shown consideration, by being shown any kind of love.

Sokka decides to drop it for now. They _will_ be discussing this again later, but it can wait. “So. You ready to ride?”

“I think…I think I just want to do _this_ right now?” Zuko’s using his _fear of disappointing others_ voice but both of them are hurting in the cold anyway, Sokka’s leg and shoulder especially, so it is genuinely okay. “We’ll go tomorrow, I promise.”

Sokka squeezes his hand a bit harder in acceptance, reassurance.

They’re silent for a while, watching the otterpenguins waddle and huddle together, just taking in the view, taking in _each other._

“You know, I’ve heard there are some kinds of penguins that mate for life,” Sokka muses, their hands linked together. “Don’t know if it’s true, but I always thought that was…I don’t know, nice.”

“That is,” Zuko agrees. And then, before he can stop himself, he stops and turns to look at Sokka. “My penguin.”

And Sokka can’t do anything but smile, because he didn’t even know Zuko _could_ be that sappy, and suddenly “penguin” is the most precious and endearing and gorgeous word that exists in all of language.

“I love you, my amazing turtleduck,” Sokka replies, and he’s teasing but he also isn’t, a pet name for a pet name, one nickname based in something beloved from the other’s childhood in exchange for another.

Zuko kisses him because it’s all he _can_ do right now, and when they break they make as close to eye contact as either of them easily can, and Zuko says it again.

“Penguin.”

The sunset over the snow is beautiful, everything around them is so serene.

And hand in hand, mating for life doesn’t actually seem too outside the realm of possibility.

**Author's Note:**

> Zuko using "Penguin" as a pet name for Sokka is lovingly stolen (with permission) from Barnable.
> 
> And Zuko 100% stims with turtleduck sounds because I stim with meowing and because I said so.


End file.
